Former Saltus Grammar School student Ewan Sampson was killed in a head-on collision with a truck after leaving the side stand of his cycle down.

And at an inquest into the 17-year-old's tragic death yesterday, coroner Archie Warner called for the safety of cycle stands to be investigated.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr. Warner said: "The cause of this accident was the failure of the rider, the deceased, to place his side stand in the correct position. When this happens it becomes almost impossible to control the vehicle.'' Mr. Sampson, from Sun Valley Road, Warwick, was killed after ploughing into a van on Middle Road in Southampton on August 21 last year. He lost control of his cycle while negotiating a left hand bend near the junction with Plumber Lane.

"We have heard that this is not an uncommon occurrence,'' Mr. Warner said.

"Whether or not something should be done to make sure that accidents should not be caused by these side stands being left down should certainly be looked into.'' Referring to an article in yesterday's Royal Gazette about a new type of bike which cannot start unless the kickstand is down, Mr. Warner said: "There have been articles which indicate that there are certain designs of side stand which would reduce the chance of this type of accident happening; for example, the cycle would fail to start if the side stand was left down.

Stand factored in accident looked into because if the side stand had not been left down, young Ewan Sampson would probably be with us today.'' Those sentiments were echoed by Mr. Sampson's father, Tyrone. Addressing the coroner on his behalf, coroner's officer Donald Grant said: "It is Mr.

Sampson's belief that it might help the public in general if they're aware of the dangers of side stands, especially when they're not in the folded position.'' Earlier the inquest heard from Sgt. Philip Lewis, an accident investigations officer with the Bermuda Police Service.

Sgt. Lewis explained that there were numerous gouge marks in the road surface which, he claimed had been made by the side stand of Mr. Sampson's scooter as he attempted to negotiate a left hand bend.

Ewan Sampson